


Midsummer Mystery

by twinsarein



Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst and Humor, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-28
Updated: 2011-08-28
Packaged: 2017-10-23 03:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/245927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinsarein/pseuds/twinsarein
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Strange things begin happening to Lex after a performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Midsummer Mystery

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tallihensia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tallihensia/gifts).



> Written for tallihensia, a winner in a help_nz auction, to her prompt: Lex breaths in Fairy Dust... strange and magical things happen.

[](http://s947.photobucket.com/albums/ad318/twinsarein3/?action=view&current=MidsummerMystery-ctbn60.jpg)

Clark claps along with the rest of the audience as the performers begin coming out for their bows. Leaning towards Lex, Clark looks at him from the corner of one eye, so he can still see the stage. “A Midnight Summer’s Dream is amazing. Thank you for bringing me. I’m glad you gave me a rundown on the drive here, though, or I might have missed a lot of the humor.”

Lex turns in his seat to look directly at Clark, and leans a little closer. “It was my pleasure. I know it’s coming up on your reading list in English class, and I thought this might make the book easier to understand for you.”

Smiling his thanks at Lex, Clark sits back in his seat to continue clapping as the actors continue coming out. When they are all on stage, the audience begins to rise to their feet in a standing ovation. Clark follows suit, and he’s glad he’s so tall, because his view is completely unobstructed.

Telescopic vision makes his view even better. He can get a real close look at all the actors, their expressions of exultation clear on their faces. Of course, he can’t see them all at once, but he starts at one end and makes his way to the other, wanting to see them all.

At the far end, he sees movement from the corner of his vision, and turns his head a little more to see a head poking out from backstage. Clark smiles and considers waving at the woman, but he doesn’t want to embarrass her.

The woman is beautiful with flowing, dark hair, a kind of pointed chin, and gorgeous eyes. Those aren’t the first things he notices about her, though. The first thing, would be the top hat she wore on her head.

It’s so surprising to see a woman wearing something like that, especially since this isn’t a black tie event. The play is set in an outdoor amphitheater in Metropolis, and everything is very casual. Even Lex isn’t wearing a tie, tonight.

When Clark does notice her face, she’s saying something, and the look of concentration on her face is intense. Just as Clark is thinking of pointing her out to Lex, he thinks he sees her eyes glow a bright blue, and she points a finger upwards, and Clark sees glitter falling from the lights strung up above them. Or, considering the play, he guesses it should be called fairy dust.

The fairy dust seems to glow a little brighter directly above his head. As it gets closer to them, Clark corrects that thought - it’s glowing a little brighter above Lex’s head. Figuring it’s a trick of the light, Clark turns his attention back to the stage to see all of the actors taking a bow together, and the woman from backstage gone.

Looking around cursorily, Clark shrugs when he doesn’t spot her. Seeing the entire cast bowing together drives the strangely dressed woman from his mind. Instead, he claps even louder, and suppresses the urge to wave at the actors as the curtain comes down a final time.

Impulsively, Clark turns to Lex and pulls the man into a hug. “Thanks again, Lex. That was a lot of fun, and I liked the fairly dust at the end too. It made it seem even more magical.”

Lex lets out one of his rare, real smiles. “I’m glad you enjoyed it, Clark. This troupe has a great reputation.”

On the drive back to Smallville, they chat about the play, and Clark asks some questions to try and understand everything he saw better. Lex always seems to be able to explain things so much better than Clark’s teachers.

Or maybe it’s just because he likes listening to Lex’s voice better, and likes looking at him more. The conversation tapers off as Clark thinks about that. He knows he has more than best-friend feelings towards Lex. He’d figured that out a while ago, but Lex has never acted as more than a friend.

In the days of shows like Law and Order, especially the SVU one, Clark would be stupid not to know about Age of Consent laws. So, at first, he thought that Lex hadn’t done anything because of his age. Kansas’s Age of Consent was sixteen, though, and Clark had turned sixteen months ago.

Because of Chloe and his working for her on the paper, he also knew about the anti-sodomy laws. So, even though Clark was sixteen, those were still a problem for a while, but then he’d learned they’d been overturned during the past summer.

Even though both those obstacles are gone, Lex still hasn’t done anything. Even when Clark had come to him, under the guise of doing a research paper, and found out that Lex did know about the age of consent in Kansas, plus he knew a lot more than Clark did about those laws being overturned.

The only thing Clark could conclude, was Lex wasn’t interested in him like that. Since his efforts to figure out what Lex knows ended in Clark learning the answers he sought, but not the answers he’d wanted to hear, Clark has done his best to keep his more-than-friends feelings to himself.

A sneeze from the driver’s side derails Clark’s thoughts, and he looks over at Lex in surprise. Lex never sneezes. “Damn fairy dust. It’s been tickling my nose since we left the theater. I don’t know why--holy shit! What’s that?”

The car swerves into the oncoming lane of traffic, and back just as quickly. Clark puts his hands out to brace himself, and looks wildly around for what had startled his normally unflappable friend. “What’s what? I don’t see anything, Lex. What is it?”

Slipping into x-ray vision, Clark looks all through the car, and then extends his sight outside, trying to find what had made Lex swerve the car. He can’t see a thing to explain it.

“You don’t see that? It’s on my left; practically sitting on my shoulder.”

Bringing his vision to bear in that area, Clark still can’t see anything. Carefully, he reaches a hand around Lex’s shoulders, to pat the left one, and to feel around the air. Still, nothing. “I’m sorry, Lex. I can’t find anything.”

Lex’s mouth snaps closed, his hands tightening on the wheel, and he looks straight ahead through the windshield. “Never mind. I must have gotten some of that crap in my eyes, too.”

Watching Lex curiously, Clark settles back in his seat. The third time the car swerves, however, Clark looks back in time to see Lex’s eyes looking as far to the left as possible without moving his head. “Lex, are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to finish driving back to Smallville?”

A snarl is all he gets for his concern. Sitting back in his seat, Clark can’t relax the rest of the way home. Instead, he watches Lex worriedly. He can’t forget about it even through making plans to meet up the next day at the Talon for lunch or after Lex has dropped him off and he’s getting ready for bed.

A rattled Lex is a rare sight, and this time it had seemed to come out of nowhere. Lex is usually so careful not to give anything away, to not look vulnerable or as if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Clark can’t help feel as if it’s significant Lex let Clark see him like that, but he figures feeling that way is just wishful thinking.

Lex’s behavior does take a backseat during his chores the next morning, though, and by the time lunchtime rolls around, Clark figures that he’d been making too much of it. Lex’s dad is in town, and that always makes Lex more jumpy, even though the man will never admit it. He doesn’t like to be seen as anything other than - what is that word Lex uses? Equam...equinim...well, even-keeled anyway.

Clark’s reassurances work right up until he gets to the Talon. The knowledge that he’ll be seeing Lex again in just seconds brings some of the worry back. Standing aside to let the postman in ahead of him, Clark spies Lex already sitting at his favorite seat. Running his eyes over Lex’s face, and then the rest of him, Clark’s worries are finally put to rest.

Even though there isn’t any one thing Clark can point to, because Lex is dressed as impeccably as usual and his face gives nothing away, Clark knows him well enough to know that Lex probably hadn’t slept well, but has come to some sort of peace with whatever the problem had been last night.

If he hadn’t started feeding his interest in his friend by watching him more closely for the last eight months, then he might not have noticed anything at all. As it is, it’s a look that makes Clark extremely curious about what Lex had been struggling with, and why he’s looking more settled than he’s looked since Clark has known him. “Hey, Lex. How’s it going?”

The expression on Lex’s face as he tilts his head up gives nothing away. “Good afternoon, Clark. I’m doing very well, thank you. Once we’ve ordered I have a few questions for you, however.”

More curious than ever, Clark nods, and quickly sits down, picking up a menu as he does so. Once the waitress comes over, Clark rattles off his order and impatiently waits for Lex to do the same. When she’s gone, Clark looks at Lex expectantly.

As usual, Lex refuses to let himself be hurried just because Clark is obviously feeling antsy. Taking a sip of the drink he must have ordered while waiting for Clark to arrive, Lex dabs his lips with a napkin, and then raises his gaze to Clark’s face. “If you found a large sum of money on the sidewalk, with no identification, would you keep it?”

Brows lowering in consternation, Clark tilts his head in an unconscious move as he tries to figure out why Lex would ask such a question. After a moment of consideration, he decides to just answer it. “No, of course not. Unless I knew who to return it to, I’d turn it in to the police.”

Across the table, Lex leans forward and looks at Clark intently. “Even if it was enough money to ease your parent’s financial burdens - say, pay off the mortgage?”

Clark’s shaking his head in the negative even before Lex gets the last word out. “It wouldn’t matter how much it was, Lex. It wouldn’t be mine, so it would be wrong to keep it. Besides, my parents would never want to reduce their debt on someone else’s misfortune.”

Lex glances quickly to his left, and Clark follows his gaze, but sees nothing to warrant any attention. “Okay, that was a pretty easy one. How about this - what would you do if you saw Pete steal something from Chloe?”

Mouth opening and closing a couple of times in surprise, Clark doesn’t say anything for a minute or so. “Um, I guess I’d go to Pete and try and convince him to give what he took back. After he did, I’d try to find out what was wrong to lead him to do something like that, and ask how I could help.”

Again, Lex looks quickly to his left, and then kind of nods to himself before looking at Clark. “Sounds just about right, Clark. Now, how about...”

Putting a hand out and touching Lex’s arm, Clark figures he needs to know what’s going on. “What’s this all about, Lex? Why are you asking such strange questions, and why do you keep looking to your left?”

Uncharacteristically, Lex looks down at the table, before taking a deep breath and meeting Clark’s eyes again. “You probably aren’t going to believe me--”

“Lex, have you forgotten where we are? This is Smallville. If you’ve got something on the weird side going on, then the weirder it is, the more likely I am to believe you.”

That brings a small smile to Lex’s face, and he nods his head just slightly, as if coming to a decision. “If that’s true, then you’ll have no trouble believing me. Because, of all the bizarre things I’ve seen since coming to this town, this ranks right up there at the top. Yesterday in the car, when we were driving home, I saw movement from the corner of my eye. When I turned to look completely, I couldn’t see anything. Apparently, I can only see it--”

A crash right by their table cuts Lex off. A shrill cry of, “Oh, shit! The pepper!” precedes a series of three hard sneezes from Lex.

Bending over to help the waitress pick up her dropped tray, Clark startles at Lex’s loud sneezing fit, and then bolts upright when he hears a cry from behind the bar.

“I got in! I got in! Oh my god, I actually got in!”

Looking over at the bar, Clark can see Lana pulling off her apron and practically dancing over the floor. She stops at their table, when Lex is wiping his eyes, and almost blinds Clark with her smile. “Wow, Lana! What’s going on? What did you get into?”

“The exchange program to Paris! I’m going to Paris next semester and summer. Can you believe it? The requirements are so stringent; I didn’t think I had more than a slim chance of being accepted. In fact, I have my application for the summer program ready to go, because that one is a little easier to get in to. Instead, I got into the full program. It’s like a dream. I’ve got to go figure out what to pack, and what to buy, and...”

Lana wanders off, still mumbling to herself, and Clark watches after her with wide eyes, feeling stunned. He’s glad he’d gotten over her already, or her leaving would really hurt. Especially since she obviously hadn’t considered him at all or she wouldn’t have announced it like that.

A pale hand covers the top of his hand, and Clark looks down at the manicured nails and flawless, pale skin, and fights to keep from turning his hand over so they would be palm to palm. He looks up to see a look of worry on Lex’s face, but before Lex can say anything, Clark’s parents come into the Talon and wave.

As they get closer, Clark can see they aren’t looking at him, but at Lex. Turning in his seat, Lex spots them, and stands up. He almost falls over when Clark’s father pounds him on the back with a happy sounding, “Lex! Good to see you, son.” Clark isn’t sure if Lex’s stumble is because of the hard pat on the back, or the words.

“It is? Are you alright, sir?”

“I understand your skepticism, son. I truly do. All I can do is apologize for my past behavior, and assure you that I will do my best to get on the right foot with you. You’re important to my son, and for that reason alone I should try harder to see past my prejudice against your father, his money, and the wrong he’s helped do to this town.”

Looking at Clark’s parents with wide eyes, Lex looks totally floored. Clark would have laughed, if he wasn’t just as surprised. When Lex shoots him a look, raising an eyebrow as he does so, Clark can only shake his head and shrug his shoulders slightly, to show his confusion about what his father is saying.

Stepping around the men, Clark’s mom pulls Lex into a hug, and then kisses his cheek. “You’re a good boy, Lex, and I’m glad my husband finally came to his senses.” Raising a finger in admonishment, she turns to Clark. “You call if you aren’t going to make it back for supper. Understand?”

Raising his hands in surrender, Clark nods his head. “Not a problem, Mom. I’ll make sure to let you know.”

Just as quickly as they’d arrived, Clark’s parents turn to leave, Martha giving a little wave and a smile over her shoulder. Waving back, both Clark and Lex look at each other in silence.

Before a word can be spoken, the door of the Talon bursts open, drawing every eye in the place.

Clark can feel his jaw dropping as Lionel Luthor comes striding into the small coffee shop, mane of hair flying behind him as he winds unerringly through the tables and couches. “Lex, my boy, there you are.”

Lex had turned away from the front of the store when he’d traded the confused look with Clark, so Clark is the only one that sees the unguarded surprise on Lex’s face before he gets his expression under control. “Dad? What are you doing here?”

“Just a quick stop on my out of town, boy. I’m off to the Cayman Islands for an extended vacation. Here’s the paperwork transferring ownership of LuthorCorp to you. It’s all signed and sealed. Enjoy your new presidency, Lex. Think of me soaking up the sun and enjoying the easy life once in a while.”

With that, Lionel Luthor slaps down a folder thick with papers, turns sharply on his heel, and leaves without a backward glance, getting into a limo once he’s outside. Abandoning their table, Clark hurries to the door, right behind Lex.

A quick motion from the corner of his eye has him turning to look. He could swear he’d just seen the woman from the theater last night. Looking after Lex, torn, he pauses and turns to where he saw her, only to find no evidence of her. In her place is a small piece of paper. Looking around surreptitiously, Clark unfolds it, and reads the brief note.

When he reveals his true self to you, come find me.

Turning the paper over, hoping for more information, Clark absently puts the note in his pocket. Using his x-ray vision, he tries to find her, but she’s completely gone. Puzzled, Clark looks around the Talon one more time, and then turns to head out and join Lex. He gets to the door just as Lionel is getting into his limo and driving away, turning to wave with a smile on his face.

Putting the note and the woman out of his head for now, Clark knows the confusion and surprise must be written clearly across his face. “What’s going on, Lex? This is weird, even for Smallville. I mean, what are the chances of both our dads going so totally out of character at the same time?”

Moving around Clark, and pushing through the door, Lex walks out of the Talon and starts for his car. “I have no idea, but I’m suddenly not in the mood to be eating here. Would you like to come back to the mansion for a couple of games of pool while we talk about it, or should we part ways here?”

It doesn’t take a whole lot of thinking to decide which of those options Clark prefers. Almost before Lex stops talking, Clark is sliding into the passenger seat of Lex’s car. He waits until Lex is done accelerating to half the speed of sound before he says anything else. “Whatever is going on, it doesn’t strike me as the usual kind of nasty stuff the meteor mutants around here like to indulge in. Could it be something targeting dads? I mean, both of ours acted weird within seconds of each other.”

Leaning to one side, Lex slips a hand into a pocket and pulls a cell phone out, flipping it to Clark. “It’s as good a theory as any other. Go ahead and call some of your friends, see if their fathers did anything strange.”

Clark makes the calls, but neither Chloe nor Pete report anything odd going on in their houses. “That was a bust. I know it’s only a small sample, but there were other men in the store and in the town while we were in the talon that I know are parents, but they were acting normal, so I guess it’s something else.”

With a squeal of tires, Lex comes to a screeching halt just outside the door of his mansion. They both get out, and automatically start to head to Lex’s office. “It was a good theory, Clark, and worth checking out.”

Racking up the balls for their first game, he hears a weird sneeze from behind him. His, “bless you,” almost covers the soft, “Damn, it didn’t work,” from Lex. Glancing over his shoulder, he sees Lex glaring at his left shoulder.

The look and the sneeze jogs Clark’s memory about something Lex had been telling him before the first interruption. “Hey, could it have anything to do with what you were telling me in the Talon, before a waitress dropped the pepper? You didn’t get a chance to finish, but maybe they’re connected somehow.”

Grabbing a cue to chalk it, Clark turns towards Lex just as he blows the excess chalk dust off the head of his cue. Right into Lex’s face as he extends a bottle of water in Clark’s direction. “Oh, jeez! I’m sorry.”

Lex’s only reaction is a sneeze, much more violent than the one he’d let out a few seconds ago. Clark feels suddenly strange, eyesight a little blurry, and he blinks his eyes a few times to try and clear his vision. Something else is wrong too, but when he opens his eyes, all he can see is Lex. Everything else is forgotten, or unimportant.

All the hesitating and insecurities Clark’s been feeling for the last year or more suddenly seem silly. He knows what he wants, what he’s wanted for a while now, and he figures it’s about time he does something about it.

“That isn’t what I was thinking about. Damn it, what kind of mixed up weirdness is this?”

Lex’s words penetrate, but they don’t seem to be about him, so Clark ignores them. Instead, he takes a step forward, puts an arm around Lex’s waist, and pulls him forward, against his body.

“Clark, what are you doing?”

Nuzzling into Lex’s neck, inhaling his delicious scent, Clark doesn’t answer. He has much better things to do with his mouth.

“Clark! You have to st--”

Finally doing something he’s wanted to do almost from the beginning, it seems, Clark brushes over Lex’s mouth with his own, then licks his lips, before pressing their mouths together.

Although Lex sounds as if he’s struggling to contain a moan, he doesn’t open his mouth. Clark makes a sound of frustration, he wants in, but his brain is feeling too fuzzy to figure out how to manage it.

Something about that feels wrong to him. If Lex isn’t opening his mouth, then he needs too...his lips pass over a small bump in Lex’s top lip. He stops thinking to press a kiss against it. Then he begins to work his way around Lex’s face, dropping kisses, and nuzzling where ever his mouth lands. Hands cradling Lex’s head.

Some of the fuzziness begins to recede, and Clark becomes aware that Lex is speaking, maybe has been of a while. “...wrong, Clark. You need to stop. I can’t let you do this, damnit, no mater how good it feels. Fuck, or how good you feel. You aren’t doing this because you want to; it’s the sneezes. They’re making people do things, and I can’t let you be one of them. It would be wrong, Clark. You need to stop. I can’t...”

The strange feeling completely vanishes, and Clark abruptly lets Lex go. Lex staggers back several steps, and Clark looks at Lex, stricken. “I was forcing you? You didn’t want me, and I was making you--”

“No! No, Clark, don’t think that. Somehow it was me, when I sneezed. It made you do that. I don’t know why, but I do know it wasn’t your fault. You’d never force yourself on anyone, and you stopped once I got through whatever the compulsion was. And, trust me, if you had been doing that of your own free will, I never would have stopped you.”

Eyes widening, Lex clamps his lips shut, and Clark figures he’d said more than he’d meant to. Hardly daring to hope what Lex revealed is the truth, Clark takes a deep breath, and moves a deliberate step closer to Lex. He stops abruptly when he suddenly notices cool air brushing against places that have no business feeling a cool anything this time of day.

Glancing down, Clark can feel a blush heating up his face. “I’m naked!”

Lex’s tongue licks over his lips as he closes his eyes and turns his head away.

“Lex, I’m naked.”

Almost as if the second declaration of his nudity is his breaking point, Lex’s eyes snap open and start to travel down Clark’s body, but then he jerks his head up and locks his darkened gaze to Clark’s half panicked one. “I know. God, how I know.”

“Why am I naked, Lex?” Clark’s surprised numbness wears off, and he scurries behind the pool table, hiding at least the giveaway bits of his body behind felt and mahogany.

Even through his embarrassment, the look in Lex’s eyes before he glances away is apparently more than Clark’s body needs to remember how Lex had felt in his arms, and overcome the feeling of vulnerability nudity gives him.

Carefully not looking directly at him, Lex licks his lips again, and runs a hand over the bald pate of his head. “As I said earlier, it’s connected to me sneezing, but you being naked and kissing me isn’t what I was thinking of when you blew that cue dust in my face.”

Trying not to fidget, Clark nods, and tries to be casual about everything. “What were you thinking of, then?”

“Nothing that would lead to nakedness. I was simply lamenting that my fake sneeze hadn’t worked, and trying to think of another strategy to test my theory.” Looking down at the pool table, Lex uses a hand to roll the white ball down the table, and with a well-placed hit, he sends the more colorful balls scattering around the table. “I...I’m going to get you some clothes. Wait here for me, so none of the staff sees you.”

Watching as Lex turns and hurries out of the room, Clark’s thoughts turn speculative. He can’t remember Lex ever not meeting his eyes before. Lex makes eye contact whenever he can.

Also, not that Clark’s any expert, but Lex had been acting strangely - stuttering, nervous habits that he’d never admit to but Clark knew were there, sweat on his upper lip. Maybe Lex’s verbal slip a minute ago had been the truth.

The nudity thing had distracted Clark from his goal earlier, pushed his suspicions temporarily out of his mind, but with his body hidden from the waist down, and Lex out of the room, Clark is thinking more clearly than he has since Lex sneezed.

Hearing Lex close a door further down the hall, Clark knows that he doesn’t have much time. Taking a deep breath, Clark makes up his mind, and walks from behind the pool table, to a spot in the middle of the room.

“Okay, Clark, these should fit you. I’ll wait...” Talking before he even gets into the room, Lex trails off when he sees where Clark is standing.

Not bothering to hide his body’s reaction to Lex’s wide-eyed stare, Clark takes a few steps closer. “Why am I naked, Lex?” The question seems more significant, now that he believes it might be because that’s how Lex wants him.

“Clark, I...”

When Lex trails off and doesn’t continue, even when Clark waits for a few seconds, Clark takes another few steps forward, stopping just shy of brushing their bodies together. Raising a hand, Clark sees it trembling, so he clenches it into a fist to hide it, and brushes a thumb over Lex’s cheek. “Since you aren’t saying it was a mistake, I guess it doesn’t really matter why.”

“Clark.”

The way Lex says his name, all ragged and hoarse, makes Clark’s stomach clench and his breath catch. Ducking his head just a little, breath sighing out, Clark takes advantage of Lex’s parted lips.

The reaction is akin to a lit match being touched to a pile of dry tinder. Moaning, Lex surges against him, hands clutch the side of his face, thumbs brushing the corners of his mouth, as Lex uses his tongue to coax his way into Clark’s mouth.

It’s Clark’s turn to moan, and he pulls Lex closer, opening his mouth wider; wanting to make Lex feel as good as he is feeling. Wishing he knew more about how to do that. Wondering if Lex would mind teaching him. Until his arms are abruptly empty.

Lex tears himself away, panting hard, looking like he wants nothing more than to move back closer. When Clark tries to close the distance, though, Lex thrusts the clothes he’s still holding into Clark’s arms, instead.

“Lex?” Clark knows the hurt and uncertainty he’s feeling are clear in his voice, so he bites his bottom lip and looks away.

“I thought the compulsion was gone, but I suppose not. I can’t do this to you, Clark. I know I’m not who you want, and I’ve already taken more than I should. I will not take advantage of you like this. Get dressed, and go home to your parents. I need to go find the person who did this, and see if I can reverse what I’ve done to you and the others.”

Staring down at the clothes now in his hand, Clark swiftly starts dressing. His mind is furiously working, though, and by the time he’s bending over to tie his shoes, he’s made up his mind. “No.”

“No?”

Still bent over, Clark smiles at the surprise in Lex’s tone, before he wipes the smile from his face and straightens up. “No, I’m not going home. I’m going to help you figure out what’s going on and stop it. Then, when I kiss you, you’ll know it’s because I want it, too. Because what I was doing just now, wasn’t through any compulsion.

Lex’s eyes darken and he makes an abortive move forward, before he makes a visible effort to get himself under control. “Then you’d better call your mother, because you won’t be home in time for dinner. We need to go where I suspect this all started.”

Without questioning the statement, Clark makes the call, and then turns back to Lex. “So, what’s next?”

“Metropolis.” Without any other explanation than that, Lex abruptly starts from the room, swiftly enough Clark has to jog to catch up.

Clark keeps his silence as they head for the garage, and get into one of Lex’s many foreign sports cars. The car, a metallic blue, Aston Martin convertible, is one of the fastest in Lex’s garage, and once out of Smallville’s town limits, Lex opens her up, letting the car eat up the fairly empty road that would lead them to the outskirts of Metropolis before merging with busier routes.

At these speeds, conversation isn’t really possible with the convertible’s top down, so Clark chafes at the bit during the long drive. Once they get to the outskirts of Metropolis, however, Lex has to slow down as they merge onto the main thoroughfare.

Feeling as if he’s ready to burst, Clark grips his leg to stop it from vibrating off his body. “You obviously don’t think what’s going on is a Smallville thing, and you must have suspicions. Are you going to share them, or keep me in suspense?”

Grinning at Clark’s thinly veiled impatience, Lex shrugs one shoulder briefly. “Since the first weird thing happened when we hadn’t quite reached the border of Metropolis, I think whatever precipitated the chain of events I’ve been experiencing took place at the amphitheater.”

Thinking back to the play, Clark remembers the woman he’d seen. Quickly, he fills Lex in, telling him about the two times he’d seen her, so far, and the note that he thinks she’d left.

Lex gives him an impressed look, and Clark can’t help but smiling back happily.

“‘Reveals himself’? I wonder what she meant by that?” A worried look crosses Lex’s face, and he glances to his left shoulder, doing a double-take as he does so.

Clark can see Lex’s eyes darting around over his left shoulder, and then how he looks away, and then brings his head around more slowly. Then Lex seems to sag in his seat a little, a disappointed look on his face.

Burning with curiosity, Clark begins to ask what that had all been about, when Lex slides into one of the many empty parking places near the amphitheater, shuts off the car, and turns in his seat to face Clark. “Knowing about that woman is a big help. Now there’s somewhere to start, and if we find her, you’ll be able to identify her.”

Because of his position, Lex doesn’t see the big dump truck filled with dirt pulling into the parking lot too fast, but Clark does. Before he can shout a warning, though, the truck is rumbling by, dust following in its wake.

Lex’s, “Shit,” is lost in a huge sneeze before he clamps his hand down on his nose and looks around in apprehension.

Clark smiles at the picture he makes. “You know, Lex I hate to tell you this, but--”

“No!”

Eyes widening at the loud exclamation, and at the way Lex surges forward to clap a hand over his mouth, Clark can only look at Lex in stunned amazement, at first. Then, he gently tries to pull Lex’s hand down, talking around the palm as he does so. Or trying to talk anyway.

At his attempt, Lex presses his hand harder against Clark’s mouth, refusing to budge it, a frantic look in his eyes. “No, Clark. I revoke whatever wish is making you want to spill your secrets. I might want them, but not this way. I want you to tell me because I’ve gained your trust, not because something I’ve wished is compelling you to speak. Run, get out of the car and run as far as you can if you have to, but don’t tell me.”

Stunned for a whole other reason, now, Clark stops pulling on Lex’s hand, and just looks at him. He isn’t sure what to think about this newest revelation. He never thought Lex would turn down a chance to learn his secrets. He’s been after them since they’d first met.

Clark’s insides are all fluttery at the thought of Lex protecting him, giving up something he want so much to make sure Clark doesn’t give up his truths unwillingly. For some reason it affects Clark even more than earlier at the mansion. Maybe because Clark’s known for a long time that Lex wants his secrets, but the idea that Lex might want him is still so new that it hasn’t really sunk in yet.

Besides, Clark still thinks he might have got that one wrong. Lex has never given him any clue that he’s wanted him in the past. Eyes wide, breath shuddering in and out of his lungs, Clark presses his lips together, and nods his head to let Lex know Clark heard him, and isn’t going to be blurting anything out.

Warily, Lex lowers his hand, watching Clark very carefully. Clark assumes it’s so if he starts trying to talk again, Lex can re-cover his mouth. He thinks about testing his theory, but he’s feeling too emotional to play games, at the moment.

Before he can think of anything he dares to say, Lex clears his throat and looks away from Clark’s gaze. “We should get moving. Let’s go see if we can find anything backstage that might help. Some stagehands might be around to question as well, because there’s another performance tonight.”

Still feeling overwhelmed, and wanting time he can’t have right now to think about everything he’s learned this afternoon, Clark nods, and follows Lex across the grass. Walking up on stage, Clark can’t help but look around curiously. He thinks about being up here when the theater is full of people, and he shudders. He has no desire to ever have that much attention on him from so many people at once.

Turning away from all the empty seats, Clark starts to head backstage, to join Lex. Before he can take two steps, he spots the woman he’d seen last night, and at the Talon, beckoning to him as she stands partially concealed by the curtain.

Glancing around, Clark confirms that there is no one else around, not even Lex. Hoping to get some answers from her, Clark heads over, stopping just a few feet in front of her. Crossing his arms over his chest, Clark levels his best glare at her.

Before he can accuse her of anything, however, she breaks the silence first. “How could you bring him with you? What were you thinking? It’s been almost a full twenty-four hours since the spell; he must have shown you what he’s capable of by now. Why isn’t he locked up? I saw you two walking across the park; how could you still be acting so friendly towards him? Oh, God, has Luthor enslaved you?”

Not sure how to respond to being attacked first, or to the barrage of questions, especially the last one, Clark opens and closes his mouth without saying anything. Dropping his arms from across his chest, he shoves his hands into the front pockets of his borrowed clothing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. Who are you, and what did you do to my friend?”

About to continue, all of what the woman had just said sinks in. “Wait a minute. Spell? Did you say spell? Magic is real, and you put a spell on him? What was it? Actually, it doesn’t matter, just take it off. You can’t go around putting spells on whoever you want. That’s wrong.”

The woman straightens her spine, and her eyes almost seemed to send out sparks of outrage. “I am Zatanna, and how dare you speak to me about wrong. What’s wrong is watching him tear yo...tear apart someone I care about. Wrong is watching democracy crumble because of the choices he makes. Wrong is watching him flout the law, and getting off time and again because of his money. Wrong is watching him do all of those things, and doing nothing to stop it. That’s what I’m doing here. I’m doing something to stop him. I’m revealing his true nature to you much earlier than it originally happened, so you can see him for who he really is. You won’t waste your time trying to help someone who is so obviously beyond help.”

Stunned in the face of her conviction and pain, Clark can’t say anything for long moments. He’s not even sure where to start. Except... “No one is beyond help. Certainly not Lex; he hasn’t even done any of the things you’re talking about. So, why are you after him?”

“She’s from the future, Clark. Apparently, a future where I’m even worse than my father. Where I am the villain of the story. In other words, I fail.”

Jerking around, Clark watches Lex walk up to within a few feet, and then stop. A bleak look on his face. Clark turns away from Zatanna completely, and hurries to his friend. “No, you don’t. You aren’t anything like what she says, Lex. Don’t listen to her.”

Clark can tell by the look on Lex’s face that he isn’t convincing him. Desperate to help, Clark turns back to Zatanna. “The spell! What was it? What was he supposed to reveal?”

Staring at Lex, not taking her wary gaze off of him for a second, Zatanna said, “I hexed him to reveal his deepest desires every time he sneezed. Not whatever was foremost in his mind, but what was in his heart, what he wanted most in this world.”

Eyes lighting in triumph, Clark feels a smile threatening to split his face in two. “Don’t you see, nothing happened. Nothing bad, anyway. I saw him sneeze five times. If he was going reveal himself as a bad man, it would have happened during one of those, and it didn’t. Maybe there were more, but--”

“There were six, actually, but you were there for all of them.”

If anything, Clark’s smile gets even bigger at Lex’s correction. “All of the times he sneezed, then. No one died, or got hurt. No one even got a stubbed toe. How bad can his deepest desires be, if that’s the case?”

Zatanna shakes her head, and the look in her eyes seems to be one of exasperation. “I forget how young you are, right now. Just because you didn’t see the bad stuff, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It might have just taken a while to play out.”

Folding his arms over his chest again, Clark shakes his head at Zatanna’s reasoning. “No, his wishes didn’t go like that. In one, his father took an early retirement, and in another my father said he’d been wrong about Lex...”

Trailing off, Clark tries to think of what Lex’s third wish had been in the Talon. Clark remembers three sneezes, but not three odd things happening.

“Lana, Clark. Lana got accepted to the exchange program in France.”

“Lana? Why would Lana going away be a deep desi--” Clark breaks off as he starts seeing the pattern to all of the weird occurrences of the last day, his mind reeling with the implications. Lana and Lionel gone, Clark’s parents accepting Lex as a good guy, Clark winding up nude and trying to kiss Lex. “Oh.”

Heart filling at the idea that he was Lex’s deepest desire, Clark whirls around, takes two large steps, and wraps his arms around Lex’s upper body. “I’d given up on you ever seeing me as anything other than your friend, and then at the mansion I knew it was more, but I thought it was just sex, but all along... God, Lex! You can’t even know. It was so hard not letting on I wanted more.”

Overwhelmed with giddy relief, Clark leans forward to kiss Lex, only to find himself stopped when Lex places a hand over Clark’s mouth. “No, Clark. I still can’t be sure that this isn’t the spell at work. You heard her; she said that the wishes might take time to play out.

Frustrated as being stopped yet again, Clark keeps one arm around Lex’s waist, and then turns toward Zatanna. “Okay, this needs to end. You failed to show him up as evil, so tell us how to he can get rid of your spell.”

Hands on her hips, Zatanna shakes her head. “There were six sneezes, but you only mentioned the results for three. I won’t tell you how to get rid of the spell until I know what they all were.”

A blush promptly starts spreading over Clark’s face, and down his neck. Biting his lip, he looks over at Lex. Lex grips Clark’s side tighter, and then lets go, stepping away from Clark as he does so. “You know the second, third, and fourth already. The fifth happened in the mansion. After I sneezed, Clark...moved to kiss me. The sixth was in the car, after we’d arrived back here. Clark felt compelled to share his secrets with me.”

Clark tightens his arm around Lex a little as Lex protects him by not mentioning everything about the spell at the mansion, but he keeps quiet because there is one more, and he really wants to know about that first one.

“And the first?”

Clark watches in fascination when Lex’s cheeks redden just slightly. “In the car on the way home last night, I... acquired a small, pink elephant on my left shoulder.”

"A pink elephant?" Clark interrupts without thinking; he's just so amazed at the thought of Lex with anything so bizarre. Luckily, he's too amazed for laughter, yet.

The red on Lex's cheeks gets a little darker. "Yes, well, it took me a few hours to remember, but I had one like it as a very young child. At least, there is a picture I've seen a few times that has me clutching one while I sit on my mother's lap. I think my father got rid of it fairly quickly, as he didn't think pink was an appropriate color for boys."

That sobers Clark right up, but Lex clears his throat before he can say anything else. “No one else could see it, but when talking with my father later that night I realized it was acting as a...a conscience. I was able to confirm it at lunch with Clark earlier today. It...”

Turning to his left with a small gesture to presumably indicate where it was, Lex breaks off and hesitates. “I noticed in the car, right before we got here, that it was gone. I don’t know where it went, or why.” Lex turns to look at Zatanna. “Why would it be gone?”

If Clark didn’t know better, he’d say that Lex’s question seemed almost plaintive. It makes him want to wrap Lex up in another hug, but he holds himself back, because he wants Lex to know that it’s really him and not just think it’s another compulsion.

“A conscience? One of your deepest desires was to have something to tell the difference between right and wrong?” Zatanna looks stunned, and considering what she’d said earlier, Clark can kind of understand, but Lex’s wish doesn’t surprise him. He’s always known Lex was a good guy at heart.

Visibly trying to gather herself together, Zatanna finally shakes the shock off and continues. “That changes things. The fact that it’s gone changes things too, because the only way I know of to get rid of the spell I cast on you is to commit a selfless act of some kind. Have you done something of that nature?”

Lex begins to shake his head, but Clark speaks up before he even knows what he’s going to say. “He sure did! When he had me naked at his place, he didn’t allow more than a kiss before he was pushing me away. Said he didn’t want me like that, being influenced by whatever was going on. So he denied one of his deepest desires so I wouldn’t let him...ummm...let him...uhhh...”

Floundering to a stop at all he’d just revealed, Clark sees Zatanna’s stunned look, and bites his lip as he drops his gaze to stare at his feet. Realizing he’s acting ashamed of wanting Lex, no matter how the revelation came about, Clark firms his posture, and looks up without flinching. “Anyway, I know the spell had to have been broken at that point, because when he thought I was about to reveal my secrets to him, which he stopped me from doing too, by the way, I felt nothing forcing me to tell any secrets. In fact, I was going to say something completely different.”

Clark knows his expression is filled with admiration when he looks at Lex, and he’s surprised to see Lex’s cheeks turning a little red. Before he can say anything, though, Lex turns quickly, almost desperately, to look at Zatanna. “What happens to everyone else affected by my wishes?” Are any of them permanent?”

Uncertainty crosses Zatanna’s face, and Clark and Lex look at each other worriedly. “Wishing spells are a little unpredictable, although there were restrictions on this one so that Lex couldn’t actually kill anyone, even though it might look as though he had. Since that isn’t an issue, I’m not sure about the others, although, it doesn’t sound as though anything really bad happened to anyone. As shocking as that is.”

Zatanna sounds disgruntled by that, but Clark is too glad it’s actually over to be concerned about her wrong opinion of Lex. As the thought of it being over sinks in, Clark realizes something else. Turning his head to look at Lex, Clark smiles in a very satisfied way. “If the spell is broken, there is nothing stopping us from trying that kiss again. Is there?”

The intent look in Lex’s face makes Clark shiver. “No, there certainly isn’t.”

Then it’s Clark being reeled in for a kiss, being the one to stand and take it as Lex practically wraps him in his arms, hands kneading just above and below his ass.

Being held like that, along with Lex’s tongue thrusting deeply into his mouth, makes Clark moan and press even closer.

“Ooo-kay. So, that’s new. I have the feeling the future is going to be somewhat different by the time I swing back, so I think I’d better just go. Right. So, bye.”

Clark slits one eye open just in time to see Zatanna disappear, but he is much too interested in what Lex is doing with his fingers at the waist of his jeans to do more than note the fact she’s gone.

Instead, he moans again, and brings a hand up to cup Lex’s cheek, rubbing a thumb at the corner of his mouth. The sound of a couple of throats clearing, though, has Clark jerking back, looking at Lex dazedly as he does so.

The satisfied smirk on Lex’s face, coupled with the intent look in his hooded eyes has Clark wanting to step back in, but the men behind them clear their throats again. “As much as we think people will enjoy the show you’re putting on, another group has this area reserved already. I’m going to have to ask you, reluctantly, to get off the stage so we can start getting it ready.”

A fiery blush spreads over Clark’s cheeks again. “Yeah, okay. Sorry for getting in the way.”

Grabbing a now grinning Lex by the hand, Clark pulls him along as he hurries off the stage and across the grass to Lex’s car. Clark doesn’t let go until they have to slide into their seats.

Feeling unsettled, Clark doesn’t look up, even when Lex pointedly puts the top up, but doesn’t start the car, and then shifts in his seat until he’s facing Clark. However, when Lex cups his chin, Clark doesn’t resist the slight tug upwards.

If Lex can face him after having his deepest desires exposed as he had, then Clark can let him see his eyes, all his feelings exposed for Lex to see. “How long, Clark?”

Not even pretending to misunderstand, Clark shrugs a little. “I’m not sure when it happened. It took Desiree to make me realize that it had. You kept pushing me at Lana, though, and then there was Helen. I’ve seen the women you like, and I figured there wasn’t any way I’d have a chance. Then, earlier this fall, when I came to you about doing that research paper, and you showed you knew all about the two things I thought were keeping you from doing anything... I figured you just weren’t interested in me that way.”

Pausing to take a breath, the rest of what Clark was going to say is cut off by Lex’s mouth covering his. Clark opens beneath Lex immediately, whimpering a little when Lex’s tongue strokes into his mouth.

Before Clark can really sink into it, though, Lex is pulling back with a harsh sound. “Not being interested was definitely not the problem.”

“Yeah, I’m getting that. What was it, then?”

Gripping the steering wheel, Lex gets the car started, and on the road back to Smallville. “I’d rather save that conversation for another time. I feel as if I’ve exposed myself enough for one day.”

“You’ve exposed yourself enough? I was naked! There isn’t much more exposed than that.” Clark gets what Lex is saying, and he wants Lex to know that he understands, while avoiding any more Hallmark moments for the day.

It seems to work, because Lex relaxes and huffs out a laugh. “True enough. We do seem to be even. I’ll tell you what, the next time you’re naked, I’ll be glad to answer your question.”

Glad Lex’s sober expression has lightened so much, Clark smiles at him. “So let me get this straight. I can’t get an answer to my question unless I get naked first?”

Turning his head from the road just a bit, Lex winks at him. “If that’s how you want me to expose myself the next time you’re naked, then yes, I’ll answer your question at that point.”

In spite of the tightening low in his belly, Clark still manages a small laugh. “Yeah, I might have to rethink that.”

Quiet descends in the car after that. Quiet disturbed only by a satisfied sigh as Lex reaches over and takes Clark’s hand in his.

Afterwards

Lana went to France as planned, never knowing she only got into the full program because of a wish. Lex and Clark never told her, and Lex made sure the offer didn’t go away. While there, she met Pierre. In one of her infrequent letters to Chloe, she said that she’d never met anyone that made her feel as safe as he did.

They dated throughout the remainder of the school year and into the summer. At the end of July, Pierre asked her to marry him, and she said yes.

 

While Jonathan Kent backed off from his whole-hearted acceptance of Lex, what he’d said in the Talon stuck with him. He finally realized that it was unfair of him to judge Lex so harshly due to the actions of Lex’s father. Jonathan resolved to try harder to see what his son saw.

His resolution was put to the test when he discovered that Clark and Lex were dating, but he reigned in his temper, and Martha rewarded him for his forbearance later that evening.

Eventually, he came to accept Lex almost as much as he did when he was under a spell. It helped that Lex convinced Clark to take things slowly.

 

Lionel returned from the Cayman Islands late the next day, after flying around the country due to being unable to find a decent connecting flight. He burst into the mansion, loaded for bear, and prepared to fight Lex for the return of LuthorCorp.

Only to have the wind knocked completely out of his sails when Lex just handed him back the folder full of papers, untouched. Lionel sneered at his son for being too weak to take the advantage even when it was handed to him.

Lionel found himself even more disconcerted when Lex just smiled at him and told him that he didn’t need LuthorCorp. He was going back to his first love - science. He’d already managed to obtain a grant from S. T. A. R. Labs in Gotham city for an idea he’s had from some time.

The grant prevented Lionel from blackballing his son in the scientific community, and driving him back into Lionel’s demanding and stifling embrace.

 

As for the pink elephant, it changed back to its standard amorphous shape, and floated away from Lex’s shoulder when the spell broke. It stayed around to make sure Lex would be alright, though, for a little while. It wasn’t really sure why Lex had summoned him. Lex hadn’t shown a real need for a conscience, just that he had a lack of trust in the one he already had.

When he saw Lex and Clark holding hands in the car, the pink elephant knew that if Lex ever did falter in the future, Clark would be there to help and support him. So, the pink elephant floated away.

It was rare for it to be called to a person, as it had to Lex. Usually, it looked for those that would most benefit from its help, and took a shape that meant something to the person he chose.

The first night it had been called to Lex, Lex had an argument with a fascinating being. It hadn’t sensed a conscience anywhere near the man. It wondered what shape it would take when it landed on his shoulder...


End file.
